Top Items:
Jim Tankersley / Los Angeles Times:
‘Top kill’ effort succeeds in blocking oil leak, Coast Guard admiral says — Thad Allen, who is coordinating the government response, says the well still has low pressure, but cement will be used to cap the well permanently as soon as the pressure hits zero.
Discussion:
WWL, Matthew Yglesias, Townhall.com, Raw Story, Left Coast Rebel, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire, Washington Monthly, Gawker, The Oil Drum, The Political Carnival, Guardian, Questions and Observations, MyFox Philadelphia, Fausta's Blog, Corrente, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gateway Pundit and New York Times
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Bruce Nolan / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Thad Allen says effort to stop Gulf of Mexico oil spill going according to plan … An attempt to kill the runaway deepwater horizon well spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico is going according to plan so far, leaving the coast guard admiral in charge of managing the spill “cautiously optimistic” but unwilling to say the well is capped.
BBC:
‘Top kill’ method ‘slows BP oil leak’ in Gulf of Mexico — BP has slowed the flow of oil and gas from a ruptured well into the Gulf of Mexico, a US official told local media. — The company's “top kill” effort has “stabilised the wellhead”, Coast Guard commander Admiral Thad Allen said.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin
Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service:
Mullen: Proposed Legislation Retains Prerogative — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that he's comfortable with proposed legislation that seeks to repeal the law that bans gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military because it includes “very clear language” …
Discussion:
The Hill, Pam's House Blend, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog Gay and Joe. My. God.
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Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Service Chiefs Seek to Delay Vote on Gays — WASHINGTON — The chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines objected on Wednesday to a compromise plan to repeal the military's ban on allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly, a position that put them at odds with President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Igor / Wonk Room:
BREAKING: McCain Asks Senate Armed Services Committee To Televise DADT Repeal Vote — Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who at one point said that he would re-evaluate his support for the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy if military leaders like Colin Powell called for its repeal …
Kathleen Hunter / Roll Call:
Republicans Threaten Filibuster Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Republicans Threaten Filibuster Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wonk Room, Daily Kos, Liberty Central, Shakesville, Joe. My. God. and The Hill
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Family Research Council: End Of DADT Means More Gay Rape In The Military
Family Research Council: End Of DADT Means More Gay Rape In The Military
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus — The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.
Political Punch:
Justice Scalia Praises Elena Kagan's Lack of Judicial Experience — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has been criticized by some Republican senators for lacking judicial experience. But Justice Antonin Scalia, the High Court's most outspoken conservative …
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Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
O'Connor Warns Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Hearings — O'Connor Cautioned Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Nomination Process — The first woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court has gotten behind Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but warned her of the “dreadful, unpleasant” nomination process.
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Ian Urbina / New York Times:
BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast — WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.
Michelle Malkin:
Todd Palin for border czar! — You've no doubt read about the Palin family's snoopy new neighbor, author Joe McGinniss, who has rented a house 15 feet from the Palins' backyard to conduct binocular-aided research for his Random House book. I'll share more thoughts later on the media ethics issues and media double standards involved.
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Lymari Morales / Gallup:
Americans Critical of Oil Spill Response; Keeping Close Tabs — President Obama's efforts rated more positively than BP's — WASHINGTON, D.C. — With President Barack Obama and BP taking their most aggressive steps yet in response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico …
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
President Obama's national security strategy looks beyond military might — Military superiority is not enough to maintain U.S. strength and influence in the world, and the United States must build global institutions and expand international partnerships beyond its traditional allies …
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USA Today:
Is oil spill becoming Obama's Katrina? — The hurricane that drowned New Orleans and cast George W. Bush as out of touch swept across the Gulf Coast nearly five years ago. Now, as oil laps ashore in the very same region, local officials are asking: Is there another government-Gulf Coast disconnect?
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New York Times:
Obama to Extend Drilling Moratorium — WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to announce Thursday that he is extending the moratorium on permits to drill new deepwater wells for six more months and will delay or cancel specific projects off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia and in the western Gulf of Mexico, a White House official said.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Politics Daily, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Politico, msnbc.com, Jack & Jill Politics and Gawker
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Roger Alford / Associated Press:
Rand Paul faces possible challenge, staff shake-up — FRANKFORT, Ky. — A week after a come-from-behind victory over the GOP's establishment candidate in a Kentucky Senate primary, Rand Paul is facing a possible challenge by the Libertarian Party and is shaking up his staff after comments …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Kentucky libertarians: Rand Paul might not be libertarian enough
Kentucky libertarians: Rand Paul might not be libertarian enough
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Mythili Rao / CNN:
Ads on NYC buses target those wanting to leave Islam — New York (CNN) — “Fatwa on your head?” a new series of provocative ads on New York City buses asks. “Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?” — The ads, sponsored by an organization called Stop the Islamization of America …
Jana Winter / Fox News:
Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border — The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
Discussion:
All Headline News, protein wisdom, The Jawa Report, American Power, Gateway Pundit and YID With LID
Isaac Wood / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
May House Update — GOP Gains Likely, Majority Uncertain — Like many beleaguered sports fans, as the calendar turned to 2010, Republicans across the country were conjuring up the same thought: “This is the year!” After disastrous House elections in 2006 and 2008, Republicans dropped …
Discussion:
National Review
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GOP NARRATIVES VS. PUBLIC NEEDS.... House Democrats are ready to move forward on a package of economic policies — jobless benefits, temporary health care subsidies, job creation investments — that would bolster the ongoing recovery. But it's struggling, not because of its merits …
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Why Is Kim Jong-il Suddenly So Aggressive? … - Why Aren't Democrats Exploiting the Oil Spill for Political Gain? - The Found Poetry of Sarah Palin- Is It Really Legal To Stab and Beat the Cows in a Slaughterhouse? - Why Young People Don't Care About Kagan's Race, Gender …
Nick Anderson / Washington Post:
100,000 teachers nationwide face layoffs — Senior congressional Democrats and the Obama administration scrambled Wednesday to line up support for $23 billion in federal aid to avert an estimated 100,000 or more school layoffs in a brutal year for education budgets coast to coast.
Discussion:
The Politico